Four Maoists gunned down in Jharkhand

TAIMARA GHATI (Ranchi): Four Maoists were gunned down on Friday morning following a nine-hour encounter with security forces in Taimara valley on NH-33 and four firearms were seized, CRPF IG Rakesh Kumar Mishra confirmed. The police have recovered four dead bodies and a process to identify them is on. All the four dead Maoists are in Naxal fatigue. The operation began on specific inputs around 9pm on Thursday night and ended on Friday morning. Ranchi SSP Kuldeep Dwivedi, who led the operations, said intermittent firing continued throughout the night. "The Maoists, around 40 in number, were led by two top commanders. It was a strong team which engaged the cops in the operation all through the night," Dwivedi, who camped in the valley at night, told TOI. Dwivedi said police had information that a group of Maoists were passing through Ghaghrabera village in the valley and that an ambush was laid. "The Maoists opened fire on our team when cops asked them to lay down arms. The forces retaliated very strongly," the SSP said. The Maoists were going to a safe place when they were ambushed. One of the slain Maoists is a woman. "Two of them were carrying SLR. It suggests that they enjoyed a higher rank in the outfit," IG Mishra said. The Maoists were led by central committee member Vivekji and Mithileshji. "It is not known if the slain Maoists include any of the two or none," a police officer said. Dileep Singh, assistant commandant CRPF, said other Maoists managed to escape after putting up a strong resistance. Two company CRPF, one SSB company and district police were part of the operation team. In the operation, two CRPF jawans were injured in the initial hours of encounter. "They are under treatment at a Ranchi hospital," Dwivedi said. The Taimara Ghati is just 30km from Ranchi. In the wake of intermittent firing, police had on Thursday night, halted traffic on NH-33, the lifeline of the state which connects Jamshedpur and Ranchi, for a long time. “The traffic was halted for sometime for the safety of travelers,” SSP told TOI.

Lakra said after sometime vehicles were allowed to pass through the valley under security cover. Sources said the traffic was halted for more than 30 minutes creating a long jam on the highway. NH-33 passes through Taimara valley in Ranchi district. It is the main surface link between Jamshedpur and Patna. Hundreds of passenger and commercial vehicles pass through this route everyday. Though it is on the outskirts of Ranchi, the valley's topography serves as a hiding ground for Maoists. The Maoists have however never harmed civilians in the valley.